Ethics in Engineering

In carrying out ASME'/s charge to promote a high level of ethical practice within our membership and the engineering profession, the following resources and real cases of challenging ethical concerns are available

We invite you to explore and debate these issues and resources. Please send ethics@asme.org any questions or comments related to this subject.

Benefits

ASME subscribes to a Code of Ethics.
ASME maintains Society Policies on Conflicts of Interest; Discrimination, including Discriminatory Harassment; and Code of Conduct.
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has created a set of interdisciplinary engineering ethics videos, including case studies. The videos were produced under a grant from the United Engineering Foundation.
ASME has issued Criteria for the Interpretation of the Fundamental Canons that are contained in the Code of Ethics.
A web-based module called "Ethics for Engineers: Doing the Right Thing When No One is Looking" has been developed.
The National Institute for Engineering Ethics released its latest contribution to teaching professional ethics in engineering. A 30-minute movie, Henry's Daughters, follows the ethical conflicts of three family members working on a smart highway design project. The characters face ethical issues such as conflicts of interest, sexual harassment, intellectual property, and individual privacy. They disagree over the tradeoffs between technical performance, safety, reliability, and cost and discover how political and social factors can influence technical decisions. In recognition of its $5,000 contribution toward the development of Henry's Daughters, ASME received five copies of the DVD. If an ASME unit would like to borrow one, e-mail the request to soukupd@asme.org.
ASME maintains a set of ethical obligations for authors, reviewers, and conference organizers.
A Guide to Teachers on Engineering Ethics is available.
The National Institute for Engineering Ethics (NIEE) at Purdue University provides resources and presents conferences on engineering ethics. ASME provides a direct liaison to NIEE.